The invention relates to a metallic flat gasket, especially a metallic flat gasket, which is used in the area of internal combustion engines in motor vehicles, especially a cylinder head gasket, a gasket for sealing high pressures or a gasket in the area of the exhaust line including the exhaust treatment and exhaust processing, as for example a exhaust manifold gasket. In order to seal the combustion gas openings, such a gasket usually makes use of beads, which are formed into the gasket layer(s) and which completely encircle the combustion gas openings. In order to prevent that during operation the bead is excessively compressed and looses its elasticity, the bead is often accompanied by a so-called stopper, a deformation limiter which is harder to compress than a bead and which therefore is to prevent a complete compression of the bead during operation. Often, the stopper is arranged between the bead and the combustion gas opening, since this arrangement also allows the stopper to prevent hot combustion gases penetrating towards the bead. Because of the arrangement of bead and stopper next to each other, the design as described is quite space-demanding. This space is however not available for all applications. For example, the optimal design of a cylinder head gasket for an engine block with cylinder liners requires the arrangement of bead and stopper as elastic and non-elastic elements, respectively, to be adjusted to the individual engine, as the function of these elements requires them to keep a minimum distance and, as already mentioned each of the elements requires a minimum space.
A further drawback of the arrangement of bead and stopper as described results from the fact that the stopper is often manufactured as a separate element. It often consists, for example, of a ring-shaped, metallic layer, which is placed and fixed onto the metallic layer which comprises the bead. Apart from the increased consumption of material, this also means an increased manufacturing expense.